


Refuge

by Northofthewall



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2017-01-04
Packaged: 2018-09-11 18:38:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9001978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Northofthewall/pseuds/Northofthewall
Summary: Hmm, just how cosy can Sam & Jack get before it becomes a problem?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Wintery story about being cosy. Or it started off like that anyway.  
> But it's started to evolve into indulgent, sexual tension ridden fluff. 
> 
> Set Season 3.

Carter was exhausted. Jack could tell by the way her boots scuffed the loose rocks and snow, the way her shoulders drooped, and the way she walked with her hands behind her back that was bent heavily. She always walked like that when she was exhausted and pushing through it. To be fair, he was exhausted too, but it was his job to get them home. If he didn't, who would? So he kept pushing on. Unfortunately between them and the Stargate were some big ass mountains. 

It started snowing, the kind of snow that blows across mountains tops, stinging and icy. The kind you have to battle against, keeping your head down. The kind that reduces visibility so much, it's highly advisable not to be on top of a mountain in. The kind that focuses you down to simple steps. One foot in front of the other. From that bit of ground to that bit of ground. Watching as the rocky, grassy ground disappears as the snow starts laying heavier. 

The up never ended. They had been walking since the early hours of the morning at a good pace, and now his knee hurt. His feet were numb and cold from the fresh layer of snow. His back ached from the slight bend it had been at all day from the permanent uphill hiking. The snow was wet enough that it was starting to make his clothes wet. He checked on Carter again. She was still there. A huddled silent figure trudging behind him. He wondered how much she had left in her. She hadn't complained once all day. 

They came to the top of a rise and the land flattened off a bit, then dipped down where a small frozen stream trickled, then rose even higher up into cloud. To the left was steep cliffs and scree. To the right, impassable looking mountains. He stopped and bent over, resting his hands on his knees. His pack was heavy on his back so he straightened and arched his back and flexed his shoulders, attempting to fix the hunch. Carter arrived next to him and he glanced at her to asses her energy levels. She swayed on her feet worryingly as she stared up at the route in front of them.  
"Sir..." She said quietly, then crumpled to the ground.  
"Damn."  
He hauled her to her feet, not wanting her to get too cold and wet in the deepening snow. She wobbled so he wrapped arms around her, holding her up. Her body leant heavily against his.  
"We can't go any further," he said loudly, the bitter wind whipping the words from his mouth.  
"Sorry sir."  
"Up there to the right, might be caves in the valley. Can you make it that far?"  
"Yes sir."  
"You sure?"  
"Yes sir."  
"Ok. Stay on my right, it might block the wind a little." 

They trudged slowly, Jack almost pushing her along, up a steep shadowy valley. The visibility was decreasing dramatically and he knew it had been a good idea to find shelter. There were overhangs in the small dark cliffs on one side, that looked fairly promising. With a goal in sight it was quicker work, and half dragging Carter along it didn't take them long to arrive. There was a small cave he led them into, rocky and wet and unfortunately not out of the direction of the wind. 

She immediately fell to her knees.  
"It's not good," he said, leaning against the damp rock wall heavily. "But it's better than nothing."  
"No."  
"There's no way you can go further Carter."  
She was shaking her head.  
"Up. Top of ridge," she said in between deep breaths.  
"What?"  
"Building. Top." Her arm reached out to point vaguely behind her.  
"I didn't see it."  
"Not far."  
"Ok. Need a rest or just wanna go for it?"  
"Go. If I stop... not going to get up..."  
"Yeah, tell me about it."  
"I'll take point sir."  
He just nodded as she slowly pulled herself to standing. Her face, barely visible in her fluffy hood, scarf and hat combo, was pink and exhausted looking. 

She led them out into the biting wind and flurries of snow. They climbed slowly up the valley that looked like it might have once contained a small stream. Dark rocks were highlighted by contrasting blankets of white. He pushed her from behind and she let him. Near the top he glanced over and saw a dark wooden building perched at the end of the ridge that towered above the valley they had just been in. He couldn't make out much detail before he had to bury his head back below the shelter of his shoulder and collar. 

On top of the ridge they were reduced to almost crawling. Tears were whipped from his eyes by the relentless wind. One foot. Then the other. Finally there was a brief glimpse of a multi sided wooden hut and a roof with a (clearly very firmly attached) red flag, before he was barrelling through the door and collapsing into shelter, stillness and dark. 

Before he allowed himself to relax, he kicked the door firmly shut and looked around to make sure they hadn't just stumbled into someone's home. The room was octagonal. The central feature of the room was a stone pillar with two open sides at the base, inside which was fireplace. Snowflakes fell down the chimney. The wooden walls of the hut were covered with intricately woven fabric hangings. The floor had a similarly intricate rug. There were some shelves against one wall, cluttered with bowls and plates and such. Against another wall sat a large wooden chest. From the slatted ceiling hung tassels and twisted red cloth. By the door was a full firewood rack. 

"Nice," Carter groaned from the floor beside him.  
"We should light that fire."  
"Hmm."  
He didn't want to move. Carter probably couldn't. It was pure bliss to his senses to not be battered by the wind and snow, and to have finally stopped moving. His muscles burned. He suspected a blister on the ball of his right foot. His lungs ached. His knee twinged. His exposed skin stung with the change in temperature and his nose was running. He was cold and uncomfortably damp. But it was up to him to keep them safe, and that meant lighting the fire. 

"Damn," he grunted, sitting up, breathing heavily.  
"Need a hand sir?"  
He looked over at Carter who was laying prone on the floor with her eyes closed. A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. He couldn't possibly disturb her.  
"I'll let you know Major."  
She let out a deep breath. 

He pulled himself to his feet and took off his weapon, bag, jacket, gloves and hat. He hung his jacket and things from the ceiling. He pulled his boots off and placed them by the door with his weapon. He noticed the door had a hanging above it that could be pulled down. It covered any cracks in the door nicely. He grabbed a decent stack of firewood and started a fire going. The wood smoked only a little. It had been surprisingly dry. He sat leaning against the stones surrounding the fire and watched the wood catch and start to burn. 

"Better than a cold damp cave," he said. "Carter?" he added, after getting no response.  
"Sorry, huh?"  
"You ok?"  
"Yeah."  
"Well, get comfy. We're staying here till the storm lifts."  
"What about...?"  
"It can wait. We're in no danger."  
"The storm might last days sir."  
"Then we stay days. We have enough provisions, and firewood by the looks of it."  
"That fire is nice."  
"Shouldn't take long to warm the room up." 

He moved over to find out what was in the large wooden chest. It was filled with clean, dry cushions and blankets.  
"He scores!"  
"Hmm?"  
"Look." He held up a couple of cushions to show Carter. She opened her eyes briefly and smiled at him weakly. They had sleeping bags, but cushions were a nice luxury.  
It was time to get dry. He opened his pack and rummaged through it, pulling out fresh pants and socks. Carter still had her eyes closed so he pulled off his wet clothes and hung them from the celling to dry, then dressed in the dry things. He didn't bother with the holster for his sidearm, and just stuck it in the back of his pants.  
"Carter. You should change."  
When there was no response he knelt down beside her.  
"Carter?"  
"Sir?"  
"Tired huh?"  
"Hmm."  
"Feeling warmer?"  
"Hmm."  
"Ok, rest up for a bit Major."  
He fetched her a cushion and she barely moved when he lifted her head to slide the cushion under. Then he unlaced her boots and pulled them off and put them beside his by the door. He sat beside the fire and enjoyed the warmth on his outstretched fingers. He would sit here until he felt a little recovered and then think about food. 

After a while Carter groaned and attempted to sit up.  
"Need any help there?"  
"Hot."  
She was still bundled up tight and the room was getting comfortably warm now. She pulled her hat off and then grunted in frustration trying to remove her gloves. He crawled over to her and helped without thinking about it, pulling her gloves off and helping her sit up. They removed her weapon, bag and coat together and she pulled off her scarf. He put them aside and she sat panting.  
"Sorry sir, I'm just..."  
"A bit tired?"  
"Yeah."  
"Understandable considering. Sorry I pushed us a bit too hard."  
"No, it's ok sir. You had to."  
"We're ok here for a while. We'll be ok."  
"Yeah," she sighed and pulled at her sodden pants.  
"Got spare in your bag?"  
"Yeah."  
He opened her bag so she didn't have to, and rummaged to find neatly rolled pants and a wrapped up bundle of socks. He placed them beside her and went to sit by the fire. They weren't shy about undressing in front of each other, they didn't have the luxury. He did what he usually did and focused on something else without making it seem like he was totally avoiding looking at her. 

When she was done she crawled over to the fire and leaned heavily against the stone pillar facing him and the fire. Her eyes closed again.  
"This place is a miracle," she said.  
"It was probably designed just for this purpose. Daniel did say the pass was a pilgrimage route."  
"You were paying attention to that sir?"  
He laughed, then shrugged. "Some of it sticks I guess."  
She smiled sleepily. She tucked her legs up and held them in place with a hand on her ankle. Her face had little flushed patches on her cheeks and her nose was red. Her hair was mussed up and wild. She looked more exhausted than he could remember her ever being.  
"Want food?"  
"Uh."  
He wasn't sure what that meant, so he grabbed both of their water canteens.  
"Water?" He tapped her hand with the canteen and she took it from him without opening her eyes.  
"Thanks."  
She took a couple of sips, slowly fastened the lid, let it fall to the floor and lay down in front of him with a big sigh. 

It wasn't just the punishing day of hiking, it was all the running about the day before, the lack of sleep, the emotional stress and most probably mental exhaustion too. He fetched her the cushion again and she murmured her thanks. He pulled her sleeping bag from her pack and draped it over her. It was only late afternoon but she was quickly asleep.

He sat and watched the fire, watched her sleep, and listened to the fierce wind batter the outside of the building and whistle through a crack in the door. He spent an hour just sitting, too tired to really do much beyond letting his mind wander. Then he forced himself to go over recent events to double check his decision making. After being sure everything was fine he got up and explored the shelf of pots, finding a long pole and cooking pot. It didn't take much working out to find slots in the fireplace to place the pole into, thereby hanging the cooking pot over the fire. He grabbed a large spoon he assumed was for stirring. He rummaged in his pack and pulled out two packs of mac & cheese. He ripped them open and dumped the contents into the pot. Carter stirred a few times. She was clearly not sleeping deeply, but just resting due to exhaustion. Food would help. He knelt by the fire and stirred the pot. Soon a pleasant aroma was filling the room and Carter was stirring again.  
"Hungry?" He asked, as she stretched and moaned.  
She opened her eyes and gazed up at him blankly for a second.  
"That smells good," she said.  
"Yeah it kinda does. Which means we must be desperate."  
She smiled and sat up with a groan. He fetched two small bowls and spoons from the shelf and placed them nearby, ready.  
"It'll be two minutes more I reckon," he said, peering into the cooking pot. He lifted out a bit of macaroni and tasted it. The meals were designed to only need heating up so it was nearly done, he just liked them piping hot. Carter was moving aside her impromptu bed.  
"Mac & cheese I'm guessing?"  
"Of course."  
"Are we gonna be ok for water?"  
"Snow. Should be ok."  
"Oh yeah. As long as it doesn't melt."  
"Unlikely. But we'll collect some before we sleep just in case."  
"I'm guessing the bathroom is outside too."  
"Er yeah, I suppose. That's going to be fun. Grab a bowl it's done."  
She picked up both bowls and handed them to him in turn. Then they sat facing each other in front of the fire and ate. 

The MRE's were never delicious. They were often tolerable when you were cold and tired and hungry and somehow always tasted better outside, but this mac & cheese was beautiful. They both wolfed it down, muttering enthusiastic praise.  
"If you cooked, do I have to wash?" She asked, pulling a concerned face.  
"Oh yeah," he chuckled, "but don't worry about it till tomorrow. Leave em by the door."  
"It might attract bugs or something."  
"Up here?"  
"Maybe. Who knows."  
"Hmm. Ok. Well, whatever you want. I guess you'll have to go out at some point anyway."  
"Urgh."  
He just smiled at her. She took the bowl and spoon from him and placed them with hers by the door. Then she grabbed the cooking pot and spoon and put them on the hearth to cool a bit.  
"Are you doing it now?" He asked, sipping water and leaning back on an outstretched arm.  
"I want to get it done."  
She started pulling her pants off so he watched the fire for a bit while she changed into the wet pants and put her jacket and boots back on. She grabbed her sidearm and some tissues and pulled the curtain back from the door. He handed her the cooking pot and she gathered the other things inside it.  
"Ok. Wish me luck," she grimaced.  
"Luck."  
She opened the door. The doorway was out of the direction of the wind, but the cold air rushed in regardless.  
"Oof," he said, glad it wasn't him, but aware he'd have to go out there sooner or later.  
She hurriedly shut the door behind her. It was just starting to get dark now so he grabbed the candles he'd found from the shelf and placed a few around the room and lit them. Then he pulled out his sleeping bag and placed it on the far side of the fireplace, deciding that would be the sleeping/lounge area, while the area in front of the door could be for eating and stuff. He grabbed a couple of cushions and a pack of cards from the Major's bag and lay down to play solitaire. He heard the occasional swear word from outside which he smiled at. It was kinda nice in here. Cosy. And on this side of the fire it was less draughty too. 

~

It was insanely cold. She had washed the pots with some difficulty and managed to pee in a dip slightly away from the hut. The snow still fell heavy and unrelenting. She gathered the pots up and went back inside.  
"Oh god," she muttered, closing the door and putting the pots down to put the curtain back.  
"Ok?" Jack called from somewhere.  
"So cold!"  
She kicked off her boots as fast as she could and shrugged off her jacket.  
"But it's nice in here," she added. It was nice. It was warm and cosy. The candles were a nice touch, now it was dark. She hung up her jacket and took the pots over to the shelf. She grabbed a log to put on the fire.  
"I've made this the bedroom," Jack said, looking at her through the fire. "It's less draughty over here."  
"Ok."  
She pulled off her wet pants and socks and hung them up. She wondered if Jack would mind her not putting pants on. It was warm in here and she'd be getting into bed soon anyway. She grabbed her sleeping bag and cushion, picked up her sidearm and took them around to where Jack lay playing cards. It was even warmer on this side. He didn't look up as she put her sidearm down close by and sat on the cushion and placed the sleeping bag over her legs like a blanket. She rubbed her fingers, trying to reduce the stinging from them getting cold and then warm again.  
"How bad is it out there?"  
"Same."  
"Did you use a flashlight?"  
"No. There was just enough light."  
"Good, coz we probably shouldn't be advertising our whereabouts. Just in case."  
She wasn't worried about that eventuality, but it was a good precaution anyway.  
"Yeah," she said simply. She bent over his game.  
"Don't you dare," Jack warned.  
She had a bad habit of moving cards for him or pointing out moves he could make and he hated it.  
"Just looking!" She said innocently, with a laugh.  
She was so relaxed all of a sudden. It had been a while. This whole mission had been FUBAR from the minute they stepped onto the planet. At least they were nearly home now, and Daniel and Teal'c were already back safe, and all they had to do was stay here till the storm died down and then get back to the Stargate. She was pretty sure it was mostly downhill now, after one last big climb, and she'd feel much more rested tomorrow. She hadn't slept properly in days. She tutted as Jack made a move he shouldn't have and he scowled at her. She got up and found some more cushions and blankets, deciding they might as well get used. She threw the heap at Jack's feet and took a few to lie on. She covered them with her sleeping bag, then grabbed a blanket to cover that, just for the sake of coziness rather than the need for warmth. She tucked her sidearm under her pillow, took her shirt off, and climbed into her bed. It was so comfortable that she sighed loudly, making Jack look across at her.  
"Made yourself a nice little nest there Carter," he smiled.  
"I'm going to be asleep in seconds Sir, so if there is anything else?"  
"Oh yeah, where's the bathroom?"  
"One o'clock from the front door. 20 paces. There's a dip."  
"Great thanks. Sleep well Carter. You deserve it."  
She closed her eyes and smiled at his kind words. She snuggled into her bed and felt her muscles relax. She was going to hurt tomorrow, but for now she was going to sleep and sleep and sleep. 

~

Carter went to sleep almost instantly and he wasn't surprised. He decided they didn't need to bother with night watches. The likelihood of anyone coming up here after them was so slim it wasn't worth it. He'd sleep with a sidearm under his pillow like Carter, and that would do. He played and lost a few games of solitaire and got fed up. He then steeled himself for a bathroom trip. He packed the cards away and got to his feet. He changed into his wet pants and stuck his boots on and pulled on an uncomfortable wet jacket. Grimacing he opened the door without pulling back the curtain and slipped out, trying to let as little cold air as possible disturb the sleeping Major. It was ridiculously dark and cold. Without Carter's instructions he'd fall off the mountainside. He found the dip easily and peed quickly and dashed back inside. He panted hard, pulling off his wet things and then rubbing his hands in front of the fire. When suitably warmed, he blew out the candles and took his shirt off. He made up a bed alongside Carter, but with less cushions. He slipped his gun under his pillow and got into bed. He lay for a while listening to the fire crackle and spit and the wind howling around the hut, before sleep took him. 

He woke feeling cold. It was still dark. In fact it was very dark. The fire was almost dead. He shivered and pulled himself out of bed. He felt his way over to the stack of firewood and grabbed two logs and some kindling. He made the fire back up and coaxed it back to life. He got into bed, looking over at Carter who was tucked up in a cosy ball with only the top of her head showing. He pulled a spare extra blanket over himself and went back to sleep


	2. Chapter 2

He woke to the sound of Carter pottering about. He could smell porridge and fire smoke. He opened his eyes and stretched. It was light now, the hut slightly more illuminated by daylight from the chimney and the odd crack in the wall. Carter was fully dressed and hovering over the cooking pot on the other side of the fire.  
"Morning sir, sleep well?"  
"You let me sleep in."  
"Why would I wake you?"  
"How long have you been up?"  
"A while. I had a wash in the snow. That was bracing! Oh and I gathered some snow too, for drinking."  
"No coffee?"  
"Daniel had all the coffee sir. Sorry."  
"We need to re-asses our distribution of provisions," he grumbled, sitting up, noticing Carter had tidied up her bed. He reluctantly climbed out of bed, feeling his bladder calling to him. His entire body ached badly, and felt stiff, especially his legs and his bad knee. He picked up his sidearm and dressed. He grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste and nipped out for a quick pee, and a look at the weather. He couldn't bring himself to wash other than brushing his teeth. Maybe after breakfast. 

"It's still coming down out there. The visibility is terrible," he said, coming back inside and stomping his feet.  
"I know. It doesn't look good."  
"We'll keep an eye on it, but we're not getting out of here just yet."  
"Porridge sir?" She held out a bowl to him.  
He nodded and started pulling off his wet jacket and pants. There seemed little point in putting on dry pants if he was going to have to keep taking them off to put wet ones on, so underwear would have to do. It was warm enough in here anyway. He picked up the bowl Carter had put down, sat down and started eating.  
"Thanks," he directed at Carter who was sitting by the fire.  
"My turn."  
They ate in easy silence, then he took the pots outside to wash them. He took some soap with him and had the coldest, most unpleasant wash of his life. He came back inside shivering and puffing. Wet clothes once again removed, he stood by the fire wrapped in a blanket, trying to get warm again.  
"Why doesn't this place have a built in shower?" He grumbled.  
"Actually sir. I was thinking. Well, I had a look around this morning and I found a half barrel behind the hut. It looked water tight. It might be possible to bring it inside. Like a bath. We could warm the water up on the fire..." She trailed off after seeing his face as he started thinking about the intimacy of bathing in front of each other.  
"But we'll not be stuck here long enough for that. Never mind," she quickly backtracked.  
"Oh I don't know Carter. It's worth considering. I really don't like snow baths." He was confident they could work something out so it wasn't awkward.  
"Maybe if we end up having to stay another night?" She asked.  
"Yeah ok." 

"Have you got that book Carter?" He asked when he'd warmed up.  
"The Count of Monte Cristo?" She was sitting propped up against a cushion against the wall with a candle nearby for extra light while she made notes in a notebook she took everywhere with her. He'd looked at it once. It was not written in English. At least not the kind of English he knew. A lot of it was squiggles and numbers too.  
"Yeah."  
"Uh-huh. You wanna borrow it again?" She pointed at her pack, indicating he was free to grab it himself.  
"Thanks."  
He did, finding the bent and tattered copy of the classic in the very bottom of her bag. He got into a position similar to Carter's, opposite her and started reading. He borrowed it sometimes when he was extra bored and had some down time off world. He had got about halfway through in lots of little spurts. He was enjoying it despite having lost track of who everyone was a long time ago. 

After about half an hour he got uncomfortable, so pulled the cushion out nearer the fire and lay down. 

~ 

She would have gone insane a long time ago without the company of her trusty notebook and pen. She could keep herself entertained indefinitely. At the moment she was rewriting the parts of her PhD that she'd more recently discovered and proved to be wrong but couldn't currently disclose. It was challenging, satisfying and kinda fun. Then Jack lay down and distracted her. She understood why he couldn't be bothered putting pants on. She was sick of pulling on and off pants too. She'd only dressed properly this morning because she wanted to be ready to go should Jack wake up and decide they were leaving. She even had her sidearm strapped to her thigh. But now he was lying in front of her and all she could see of him was a pair of seriously long bare legs bent at the knee and a pair of very large bare feet close to hers. It wasn't like she'd never seen his legs or feet before, it was just there was suddenly quite a lot of him in front of her, and neither of them were going anywhere for quite a while. She found herself examining him, just out of curiosity. He had a crazy amount of scars, especially on his feet. There was one big one on his foot that looked like it had been nasty and she was dying to ask him how he got it but knew she never would. She was also surprised by just how knobbly his knees were. Jack made a scoffing noise at something he had presumably just read, but it frightened her back to focusing on her notes and not her commanding officer's legs. She was going to have to think of another book to pack, because she had a feeling he was going to finish this one before they'd left this hut. The story got more and more exciting as it went on and at some point he wouldn't be able to put it down. She'd finished it more than a year ago. She just kept it around for him because nobody liked a bored Colonel O'Neill, and he'd never questioned the book's constant availability. 

She couldn't focus anymore so she put aside her notes and grabbed her water canteen and hovered around not really knowing what to do with herself.  
"You can't possibly be bored Major," he turned his head with a smile, and rested the book on his chest. "That doesn't happen."  
"It happens sometimes."  
"Only when I'm already up the walls with boredom."  
"You have a good book."  
"Want it back?"  
"I, um, finished it."  
"Oh. Wanna play a game?"  
"Ok."  
He sat up eagerly. She assumed he meant cards and fetched them from the 'bedroom'.  
"Yeah we'll need those. And your notebook."  
She grabbed it and the pen and sat down in front of him, assuming they'd be for keeping score.  
"Do you know how to score baseball?" He said, thoroughly surprising her.  
"I don't even know how it works, let alone how to score it. Are we going to play baseball? In here?" She asked looking pointedly around the small hut.  
"Yup." He smiled smugly at her.  
There then proceeded a whole hour where he explained how you could play a pretend game of baseball with a pack of cards, or anything else you could randomly generate numbers with, and some paper for scoring. He had to remind her of the rules of baseball too, which took most of the time, and was almost as complicated as the stuff she'd just been writing in her notebook. They made up teams, which was fun. Carter made her team up of her favourite famous scientists. The Colonel's team was apparently Simpsons characters, unsurprisingly. Once she'd learnt the rules it was kinda fun, kept her mind busy, and even better, it took up the entire morning. Also she won. 

~

He was feeling so pleased with himself, despite loosing at a game he didn't even like that much to someone who didn't know the rules. She had actually really enjoyed that, he could tell. It didn't take much for her competitive nature to come out, and it was complicated enough that it took up her concentration. He went to take a peek outside while she decided on lunch. The snow had sort of stopped. It was small light flakes but they were being blasted sideways by unrelenting wind, and the cloud still hung low on the mountains, reducing visibility to very little. He had an unspoken limit as to how long he was willing to wait for the storm to clear, and then they would leave no matter what. It partly depended on provisions. He came back inside to find Carter had pre-empted him and had spread every single item of food they had over the floor and was organising it into meals and days. It was immediately clear that if they ate full meals they only had three more days, and that included however long it took to get down to the Stargate. But by sharing MRE's and reducing lunch to the minimum, you could get double that, maybe more. And considering all they were doing was sitting around, they wouldn't need the calories.  
"What do you think sir?" Carter asked, doing that mind reading thing again.  
"We'll ration it. Don't know how long we'll be stuck here."  
"The usual?"  
"Yeah, but even smaller lunches. We don't need it."  
She rearranged the meals again and then put them into a nice little organised pile on the shelf, keeping two days worth divided between their bags. 

Lunch was a shared uninspiring chicken sandwich and some water. Carter was rambling about sports, mostly negative remarks. He encouraged it. She hardly ever just nattered like that. It was unusual to have direct, unfiltered access to her mind. It was slightly chaotic. He decided she was relaxed, and probably tired. He ended up trying to explain why hockey was better. He could tell she didn't understand but was trying to be polite about it due to knowing it meant a lot to him. Then they started talking about bikes. This was even better because not only did she know her stuff, but her passion was self evident and contagious. 

She went out, not bothering to change out of her dry pants, and took the water/snow bowl with her to refill. He built up the fire a bit and then shuffled the cards, after they'd got a bit too organised during baseball. She came back in puffing and stomping her feet. He grabbed the bowl from her and put it on the shelf while she pulled her clothes off. It was surprising how cold and wet she'd looked from being outside just two minutes.  
"It's so deep out there now," she said.  
"Did you fall over?"  
"No."  
"Liar."  
She humphed at him and stood by the fire, rubbing her legs. He found himself just staring at her taut bare legs for a second. He rolled his eyes at how her shirt didn't quite cover her rear when she bent over, and decided now was a good time to reorganise the bowls and spoons.  
"Gin rummy?" She asked.  
He turned around to see her sitting crossed legged by the fire, shuffling the cards.  
"Yeah why not," he said sitting down opposite her.  
"What's it like out?" He asked, already being pretty sure they were stuck here for another night. She just shook her head and started dealing the cards.  
"You still have snow in your hair Carter," he said, reaching over and shaking it out for her.  
"Oh, thanks." She picked up the largest lump and threw it into the fire and brushed the rest into the rug. 

~

They were on their third hand and Sam's legs had seized up. She groaned and stretched them out sideways, leaning on an arm and noticed Jack's eyes travelling slowly down the length of her legs and back up. Then he buried his nose in his cards and pretended it had never happened. It was strange. They had worked together so much, and been in so many situations where they'd had to change in front of each other. Hey, she'd even seen him in the buff once from a distance when he went skinny dipping in a lake in an unusual moment of good humour. So she'd not even thought about sitting here without pants. But usually it was flashes of skin and over in seconds and nobody was sitting around for hours with time and leisure for wandering eyes. It wasn't too awkward at least, because their shirts were mostly long enough to cover their underwear. But she realised that if she'd taken her time examining his legs, it was likely he had done something similar, and she was very glad she'd waxed recently. She wondered if it was too comfortable and intimate, but dismissed the idea. Worrying about the occasional harmless wandering gaze was lame. 

"Gin!" He called.  
"Damn it. I have too much deadwood."  
He chuckled. She added it up and wrote the points down and shuffled the cards.  
"That's put you firmly in the lead now."  
"I'm gonna destroy you Carter."  
"You wish. I wouldn't get too cocky."  
She dealt and then found she had a great hand. Awesome.  
"I wish we had chairs. I can't sit like this," Jack said, shifting around yet again before giving up and laying on his side. 

After 20 hands, that had actually been pretty close, they kind of gave up playing. They were both lying on their backs and Jack just didn't bother dealing. Carter knew he was in the lead but didn't mention it. She just looked up at the ceiling and wondered why it had to have red tassels and if they had some religious significance. Then she wondered if they were desecrating some holy site that pilgrims prayed in. She was so tired. It was strangely exhausting sitting doing nothing all day, but especially after an insane few days, yesterday being the worst. She had barely made it up here and had pushed herself so far past the wall that she couldn't even see the wall anymore. Maybe she could just have a nap.  
"Did I win?" His voice pulled her from her dozing.  
She tutted and flung an arm at him to give him a whack. He just chuckled.  
"I'll take that as a yes."  
"Hmm," she grumped and stretched a little to ease her aching legs and get more comfy. 

~

He was pretty sure Carter had fallen asleep. He was pretty close to dozing off himself. There was nothing more soporific than doing nothing in front of a warm fire on a cold snowy day on top of a mountain on a planet on the other side of the galaxy with your rather unfortunately attractive subordinate. What was the harm in having a little afternoon nap? He dozed off. 

He didn't recall turning over in his sleep and he definitely wasn't aware of Carter curling up in his arms, or pulling her into his arms or whatever had happened. So when he woke to find his face full of her hair and his arms around her he panicked a little and had no idea what to do. He must have made a noise or moved and disturbed her somehow because she stirred in his arms, and he briefly felt hands wriggling against his chest and her bare leg sliding on his before she gasped and jumped up.  
"Oops," she said.  
"Hmm?" he said sleepily opening his eyes and pretending to be completely ignorant of the situation.  
"Fell asleep," she said trying to sound casual and already across the room busying herself by checking her drying clothes.  
He sat up and started gathering up the cards. His bladder was talking to him and it would make a good escape so he pulled on his pants and jacket and boots and excused himself. 

The snow was ridiculously deep now, he had no idea how they were going to get off the mountain. It had stopped snowing but the cloud had descended hard and the temperature had dropped too, making the snow crunchy. He had a pee and then went to see this bath Carter had mentioned. Huge drifts had settled against the side of the hut, so it was pretty tricky work getting around to the barrel. It looked good though and was resting up against the wall so wasn't full of snow. He hauled it back. 

Carter was sitting on a cushion with her legs crossed, writing in her notebook when he dragged their new bath in. He tried to ignore how the cross legged thing was really working for her and once again removed his boots, jacket and pants.  
"Might be able to leave tomorrow if the cloud lifts. The snow has stopped."  
"Ok good."  
She barely looked up.  
"You hungry?" He asked, feeling a little uncomfortable since their nap time snuggling and not knowing what to do with himself.  
"Yeah, are you gonna cook?"  
"Yeah. What you in the mood for?"  
"Aside from a nice juicy steak?"  
"Oh god don't."  
"Sorry. How about shredded beef?"  
"Sounds good." 

He left Carter to her notes and grabbed a single sachet and started heating it through. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I warned you. Cliche silly fluff.


	3. Chapter 3

She wasn't really doing anything, just absentmindedly doodling formulae. She was trying to convince herself that cuddling her commanding officer in her sleep was no big deal. And that the bath thing wasn't a terrible, terrible idea. She would have stuck pants on or draped a blanket over her lap but she worried it would be too obvious and she didn't want him to think she had a problem. At least her panties were nice and basic, substantial black ones. 

The shredded beef smelt good and she was very ready for it when Jack served it up. It was half a portion obviously, but she didn't need anymore than that.  
"Yum, thanks sir."  
A well placed 'sir' always made her feel better. It was a good way to re-establish boundaries in her mind. He was rambling on about ski-ing down the mountain or something. She wasn't really paying attention. 

"Urgh, my turn to wash up," she said, when they had finished. She needed a pee anyway. She pulled on her clothes and headed out. Their designated bathroom was lost under a drift of snow so she picked a spot that felt close enough and dug a little hole to pee in. She hated doing it outside, the air was freezing cold. Then the super fun task of cleaning pots with hard icy snow. It was somehow even colder than it had been last time. When she got back inside her fingers were red and tingling painfully.  
"While you're dressed can you grab some snow in the cooking pot?" He asked, bent over some candles he was lighting just as she'd closed the door.  
"Yeah?"  
"So we can have a bath."  
"Oh I see. Now?"  
"I thought it'd be better now than in the morning."  
He was serious about the bath thing then. A candlelit one too. She was sure it was mix of boredom and really hating snow baths. She was starting to wonder if it wouldn't be better to just stay a bit stinky. 

She grabbed as much snow as she could and brought it back to him. She stayed dressed as she had a feeling he was going to keep sending her out for more until the bath was full. So she sat by the door breathing over her cold fingers, and watched him melt the snow until it was warm water, and then tip it into the bath. She took it from him and went out for more snow. It took six pots till there was decent amount of water. Jack tested its temperature then smiled at her expectantly.  
"What?"  
"Your bath is ready ma'am."  
"Mine?"  
"Yeah. You don't want to wash in my bath water Carter."  
"You don't want to wash in mine."  
"I'll cope. You can't be that dirty."  
"Um."  
"You don't have to."  
"Actually it sounds rather appealing." It would be nice and hot.  
"I'll be in the bedroom. Give you some privacy."  
He left her to it. She watched him sit down on a cushion on the other side of the fireplace, with his back to her as promised. Her general lack of modesty together with her trust in him, meant she had no compunction in undressing and grabbing some soap. She dipped a toe in the water. It was steaming hot as she liked it. She inched her foot into the water.  
"Oof."  
"Too hot?" He called.  
"No just perfect."  
It took a little while to slowly inch her body into the hot water. She had to have her knees right up to her chest to fit but it was incredible. She moaned happily and heard Jack chuckle across the room. She didn't want to let the water get too cold for him, but she allowed herself a couple of minutes just to luxuriate in the sensation of heat caressing her aching muscles. Then she got down to the business of washing herself.  
"Can I wash my hair?" She called over to him.  
"Of course."  
"I won't be long."  
"Take your time Carter. It'll be good for your muscles."  
"Thanks sir."  
She suddenly realised she had two problems. She hadn't grabbed a towel. And she couldn't wash her hair without a bowl or something to pour water. She could jump out and get cold and drip water all over the cabin. Or she could get Jack fetch her things. Maybe it was sensible just to get out, but she convinced herself that he'd not look and it'd be fine and wasn't a big deal.  
"Sir?"  
"Hmm?"  
"Could you fetch me a bowl or cup or something?"  
"Um."  
"I need it to wash my hair."  
"Oh. Right. Ok. Um. I'll just..."  
She didn't say anything. She wasn't sure what to say. She covered herself as best she could and waited.  
"Oh crap!" There came a loud crash at the shelf and she looked over to see Jack with his eyes tight shut and all the bowls and spoons on the floor. She laughed.  
"Well that's mean. I was trying to be a gentleman."  
"Just open your eyes sir. It's fine."  
"Are you sure?"  
"I'm decent, sort of."  
"Hmm." He didn't sound sure, but he opened his eyes and tidied up the mess he'd made. Then grabbed a small bowl and brought it over, keeping his eyes on the floor.  
"Thanks sir. Don't suppose you can grab my towel from my pack?"  
"Fine. Anything else while I'm up? More candles? Wine? A massage?" He teased.  
"Oh yeah, that all sounds perfect."  
He brought her towel over and left it just behind her.  
"Thanks." She started pouring water over her head. It was incredible how good it felt. It had only been a few days since she'd washed it but it had been a tough few days and she hadn't realised how grimy she felt. This was bliss. She lathered up her hair with the soap and then rinsed it. Her hair would be a fuzzy unmanageable mess without conditioner but it would have to do. Then she remembered she might have a small tube in the bottom of her pack somewhere.  
"Um. Sir?"  
"No!"  
"Please."  
"This is ridiculous," she heard him muttering and walking over to stand behind her. She covered her breasts and tilted her head and body back to look up at him. He frowned down at her. She could tell the exact moment he realised what view he had, as his eyes went wide and then he attempted to cover his reaction with more frowning. She sat back up straight and tried not to blush.  
"What do you want now?"  
"Tube of conditioner."  
"Is this vitally important?"  
"Life or death sir."  
"Right. Where is it?"  
"Somewhere in my pack. It's small. And blue."  
She watched him go over and start rummaging through her pack. After a while he dumped the entire contents on the floor and started poking through everything.  
"There," she spotted it before he did.  
"Where?"  
"Left. Left."  
"Ah." He grabbed it and brought it over.  
"Sorry sir. Thanks," she said, starting to coat her hair with the conditioner.  
"Are you sure you don't need anything else?"  
"Absolutely. Promise. Look, this needs to soak in so I'll get out now and rinse later."  
"You sure?"  
"Yeah." She grabbed the towel and looked up at him. He was hovering nearby looking at the floor.  
"Sir?"  
He glanced up at her.  
"Crap. Sorry." He turned his back quickly.  
She got up and wrapped a towel around herself.  
"It's all yours," she said, wishing the towel was bigger.  
"Um. Thanks."  
She went over to her things that were spread all over the floor and grabbed a clean pair of panties and socks and her deodorant and headed to their bedroom. Jack was already undressing. She resisted glancing over and started drying herself. 

~

Why did he think that a bath was a good idea? He'd tried so hard to give her privacy but it had got really stupid fetching her things and that view down her body from above had been unhelpfully interesting. Then the towel that really didn't cover enough. The bath was nice though. He'd made sure he had his towel and a cup and his soap. It wasn't hot but it was warm enough to be comfortable. He barely fit and to wash himself he had to sort of crouch in the bath. He was done fairly quickly and got out and started drying. He wrapped the towel around his waist and peaked through the fire to see her huddled in a blanket, and caught her eye as she peaked back. Oops. Not that he really minded her seeing him half naked. He wondered if he was making too big a deal out of this. They were both seasoned Air Force officers and didn't have the luxury to have hang ups about privacy. He could be professional.  
"All free," he said, pulling on fresh boxers.  
She appeared wrapped in a blanket.  
"Thanks."  
He grabbed some deodorant and watched her kneel and bend over the bath, dropping the blanket around her waist, revealing a long bare back. She splashed water over her hair and he found it engrossing. He was inexplicably tempted to offer assistance. Instead he tore himself away and tidied up his things, and then her things that he felt bad about tipping all over the floor. 

He put another log on the fire then went to make up his bed. She appeared with her blanket, in a t-shirt thankfully. She sat on her bed that she'd already made up and bent her head down and started towel drying her hair. He finished his bed and sat down. He was just wondering if he wanted to sleep in a t-shirt or not when she sighed and dropped her hands.  
"Ok?" He asked.  
"Oh. Yeah. Just tired I guess." She halfheartedly attempted to resume drying her hair and stopped again. "Screw it," she muttered weakly.  
"I'll do it," he found himself saying, scooching closer to her and pulling the towel from her hands.  
"You don't have to..."  
But before she could continue her argument, he'd started rubbing her head. 

~

The only reason she let him was because she was too tired to resist. And it seemed harmless. Oh god it was nice. He was being so thorough and her head felt so heavy. She was going to start drooling if she wasn't careful. Her head drooped further forward but hit something solid. She didn't care. It was even better like this. She leaned heavily and happily against his chest and enjoyed the sensation of her hair being rubbed and pulled and her scalp being massaged. She barely noticed when the towel was dropped and he continued with just his hands. She moaned softly in pleasure as fingers slid up and down the back of her neck and head. It was only then she realised that the feeling of pleasure was the wrong kind, tickling between her legs and making her heart beat faster, and how aware she suddenly was of her face almost pressed into his chest and how good he smelt. Shit. She pulled herself to a sitting position and swayed a little. She was so sleepy she felt almost drunk. He held her shoulders.  
"You ok?"  
"God I'm falling asleep," she mumbled and found herself being lowered to her bed. She could barely move. He lifted her legs into her bed and pulled covers over her and she mumbled thanks and pretty much instantly fell asleep. 

~

Shit. 

Nah. That was no big deal right? 

Or a big, big deal. 

Or he was overreacting. 

He was swinging wildly in his feelings on what had just happened. He didn't even know how it had happened. She was clearly really, really tired and had kinda collapsed on him. He didn't do anything except carry on. But then he'd decided it'd be a really fantastic idea to massage his subordinate's head for some god damn stupid reason. But he'd started feeling things, when her breathing tickled over his chest and she'd made those little happy noises. He thought she might have felt it too. She'd pulled away, which was just as well. And practically fallen asleep sitting up, which was also just as well. No big deal? Could he convince himself of that? Seeing her undressed was fine if it was dispassionate, professional and platonic. But if things like that were going to happen? No, no, no. God no. 

He got up and tidied up a little, blew out the candles, then put another log on the fire. He got into bed and before going to sleep, checked on Carter just in case. She was fine, just deeply asleep. He lay trying not to think about her wet skin. Or that cleavage. Or her long slim back. Or her long damp legs. Or the entire day of not looking at black panties. Or the nap and how it felt to hold her and the way she'd moved in his arms the second before waking up. Or her breath tickling the hairs on his chest and her moans of pleasure. He didn't think about any of it, at least not on purpose. It wasn't his fault it all kept popping into his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should rename this "No Big Deal."
> 
> This story is kinda careening out of control in the opposite direction than originally intended. I don't really care.


	4. Chapter 4

Once again she woke first. She blushed to herself remembering yesterday evening. Then she decided not to worry about it. He had just been helping her coz she'd been insanely tired. He probably had no clue it had made her feel weird. She moved her limbs and her leg muscles complained. The second day after a big hike was always the worst so she had been expecting this. She decided, for the first time in a while, not to get up. She turned over to find the fire still lit, meaning Jack had been looking after it during the night. He was lying on his back with limbs in all directions, even a leg stuck out from under a blanket. His uncovered chest rose and fell slowly and evenly. That unwelcome feeling was back again so she decided to get up after all. She put on the bare minimum and went out to use the toilet and brush her teeth, hobbling a little with the stiffness and ache in her legs. For some reason she'd been half expecting the sky to be clear, only because it was kind of the plan. But apparently weather doesn't do what you want it to do so it was snowing again. At least it wasn't as windy. The flakes fell heavy and thick reducing visibility down to minimum. Beyond the step of the hut was just a white out. You could barely tell what was sky and what was ground. Jack wouldn't be pleased. She wasn't exactly thrilled. Today was not only going to be boring, but also had the potential to be tense and strange. Although hopefully only on her part. 

She re-entered the hut happily and undressed. Jack was up and feeding the fire, but still not wearing enough for her liking. The bare chest was one thing, but the lack of t-shirt meant nothing covering up his boxers and the stuff within that gave it shape. Not that she'd been looking. But you just couldn't not notice it. She realised it was not a great start to the day, with two improper thoughts already.  
"How's it looking out there?"  
"Sorry." She shook her head.  
"Damn it."  
"At least we have rations for a while."  
But she knew that wasn't really helpful. He pulled on pants and a jacket and went out. She thought about having porridge again while she tidied up her bed but left it in situ. She decided it might be a good idea to work her muscles a bit, so she started on some yoga stretches. Maybe it would clear her mind too.

~

Jack re-entered the hut feeling kinda grumpy at the weather and stopped in his tracks. If he thought he could forget yesterday and start afresh today, it was tested by her stretching right in front of him. He attempted to ignore her and took off his outdoor apparel. He pulled on a fresh t-shirt and glanced at Carter bending right over.  
"You hurting today?" He asked.  
"Yeah. You?"  
"Yeah. That's probably a good idea. I might join you."  
Some exercise before breakfast seemed like a plan. He got on the floor, giving her some room, and worked through a few basic stretches. Before he'd even started on some proper exercises, she'd started doing some weird yoga poses, and he found himself distracted and just watching.  
"Can you teach me?" The words just popped out. He usually wouldn't, but faced with another boring day, he decided it might be interesting.  
"Really?" She looked over in disbelief.  
"Yeah."  
"You want me to teach you yoga?"  
"Yes," he said slightly defensively.  
"Well ok. Stand up."  
He did.  
"We'll start with the sun salutation. Don't worry about the name, it's just a warm up kind of stretching thing. Ok, now the most important thing to remember in yoga is the breathing..."  
She proceeded to teach him how to breathe which he thought was insane at first until they started to do the exercises, at which point he kinda understood. It was a bit like the breathing control you need for sniping. He mistakenly thought that a few weird looking stretches would be easy and no challenge and he was very wrong. Firstly, there were poses he just absolutely couldn't bend himself into that she did with no effort, and secondly it was more tiring than he'd expected. He also thanked whatever real god might have existed for downward facing dog without pants. Breakfast ended up being quite late.

Carter found a small cooking pot at the bottom of the shelf and used that to make them some porridge while he emptied the bath and warmed up some more water in the large cooking pot, deciding he needed a little wash. The porridge was devoured quickly and then he washed. She disappeared into their bedroom with her note book and he just stood in the bath and give the important bits a quick soap and splash. 

~

She had been surprised by the yoga thing, and how restrained he had been in his mockery. He hadn't even called her out on showing off and pushing him too far for a beginner. She'd had fun. She had her notebook out now, but she was glancing up through her eyelashes at him standing naked in the bath washing himself. She felt terrible but couldn't help it. She wasn't sure why she was having problems with his attractiveness all of a sudden. She really wasn't supposed to see him that way. But he was so firm and strong looking. Tight. And everything was so long. Legs. Arms. Feet. Fingers. And...  
"You want this water or should I throw it out?" He called over as he stepped out and started drying himself. She startled and blushed, quickly burying her nose in her notebook.  
"Um. Yeah I might have a quick wash." At least, in a minute when her face was less red.  
He came round to the bedroom in nothing but boxers and she buried herself further into her notebook and scribbled nonsense equations furiously.  
"Anything fun?" He nodded at her notes.  
"Um. Oh. Not really."  
He had the cards and started dealing out for solitaire. She took a deep breath and got up. 

~

Carter walked away from him shedding clothing casually. He rolled his eyes and focused on his game. He heard splashing and rubbed his face, trying desperately to resist sliding his eyes to the right through the fireplace. He was impressed at himself for holding out as long as he did. He glanced just in time to see her stepping out of the bath, her back to him. His groin stirred at the sight and he wished his second wasn't quite so perfect. He looked back at his cards and put an ace down.

She came back wearing panties and a t-shirt and sat down opposite where he had his cards spread.  
"Isn't it your turn to wash up?" She asked sweetly.  
"You just want to move my cards around Carter."  
"But then you might stand a chance of winning."  
"Cheeky."  
He got up and went to put some clothes on and made quick work of washing the pots. He used the bathroom while he was at it. The snow was still coming down heavily. Getting down the mountain was going to be an avalanche risk now. But nobody was going to come rescue them. As soon as it stopped snowing they were going to leave, no matter the visibility, and just risk it. Otherwise they could be stuck here until winter was over and die of starvation, or of the cold when they ran out of wood. 

He hurried back inside and stripped down to his boxers then put on a dry t-shirt. He put more wood on the fire. He found Carter lying belly down on his bed playing his game of solitaire upside down.  
"Carter!" He gave her a kick.  
"Oh come on. You need my help."  
"I give up."  
He sat down in his place and drew three cards.

She wasn't too annoying at first. She only pointed something out after giving him a chance to see it. She did grab his hand one time to stop him placing a card that didn't need to be placed. They won and played again. She got less and less patient so by the time they were on their third game she was practically doing it all for him. So he left her to it and grabbed his book and lay down on her bed to read.  
"Sir?" She turned to him.  
"What?"  
"Well it's not the same doing it by myself."  
"You mean it's only fun if you're bugging me?"  
"Maybe. Something like that," she said, hiding a smile.  
"Oh come. It's boring. You're doing everything for me. Let me read my book. It's getting my good."  
"Fine." She turned the cards around to face her. She played and he read for quite a while in silence. She got up at one point to put more wood on the fire. He turned his head to watch her, realised he probably shouldn't and sighed. He refocused on his book. She lay back down and started a new game. After only moments he heard her grumble some kind of dissatisfaction. Then she sighed.  
"Are you enjoying it?" She asked.  
"Oh yeah," he murmured.  
"How far through are you?"  
"Two thirds maybe."  
"What's happening now?"  
"Carter!" He tutted and put the book down and looked over to see her laying on her side smiling at him.  
"What?"  
"You're bugging me on purpose," he said, realising what she was doing, and that she was bored.  
"Can't you write some math?"  
"Math? Ok what math should I write?" she chuckled and looked at him teasingly.  
He turned on his side to face her.  
"Hmm, ok, remember how you got all excited about the math behind the body switching with Ma'chello?"  
She looked at him with surprise.  
"What?" He asked.  
"Nothing I just..."  
"Was expecting a joke?"  
"Something like that."  
"So?"  
"You don't want to hear it."  
"Ok no, but I have always wondered..."  
"What?"  
"Would it be possible... theoretically speaking... to hit a golf ball through an active Stargate?"  
"Yes of course. But you'd have to take into account that it would exit with the same speed and trajectory that it enters the wormhole. So you'd have to make sure the planet was uninhabited or at least clear the area around the receiving gate. Why? Been fantasising about teeing off in the gate-room?"  
"Maybe."  
"It'd win records for the furthest drive in golfing history."  
"That's the point Carter."  
She smiled.  
"I have another question," he said.  
"Go for it."  
"What does the back of the gate look like? I mean when it's active?"  
"The wormhole looks the same on the other side. I've checked. Have you never seen the back?"  
"I can't remember."  
"Disappointed?"  
"A little."  
"What did you want to see?"  
"I don't know. The stuff we travel through maybe?"  
"You can't see subspace sir."  
"Right. So can you go through it from the back?"  
"No. The gravitational field prevents it."  
"Maybe just as well."  
"Oh yes! If it was possible it would collapse the wormhole instantly."  
"Ah. How the hell do you know this stuff Carter?"  
"Science."  
"It's theoretical isn't it?"  
"Well... Yes. But..."  
"I could just come up with my own science and call it theoretical."  
"You could but you'd have to have a ton of work to backup your claims."  
"How do you do that if it's not real?"  
"Math and experiments mostly."  
"Oh. You're dumbing this down so much aren't you?"  
"Maybe. I have a question though."  
"For me?"  
"Yeah."  
"Ok shoot."  
"Do you ever worry that if Earth became technologically advanced, that we'd become the bad guys of the galaxy?"  
"Wow. Um. Deep."  
"I know we're in the Air Force and we're supposed to... well... work for our country without question but... humans suck sometimes. And our government isn't always..."  
"Yeah I get it. And yeah maybe. We're not as bad as the Goa'uld though. We're not inherently evil. We just tend to be kinda..."  
"Greedy?"  
"Yeah."  
"Power hungry?"  
"Yeah."  
"Antagonistic?"  
"Yeah. Watch out galaxy, the humans are coming?"  
"Maybe the experience of sharing our galaxy with many other beings would humble us a little?"  
"Give us some perspective?"  
"Yeah."  
"We can only hope," he said, and yawned.  
Carter stretched and Jack's eyes were drawn to the way her breasts moved. He'd only just noticed that she was clearly not wearing a bra. He wondered how it was possible that her breasts seemed so much bigger without a bra on. Or maybe just more obvious. God damn it.  
"Is it lunch time yet?"  
"God I hope so," he muttered.  
"What?"  
"I dunno but I'm hungry."  
"Should we eat the hot stuff now, seeing as we can more easily cook them? And save the cold stuff for... out there?"  
"I was thinking that too."  
"It does mean more washing up."  
"I knew there was a down side." He rolled onto his back. Carter's bed was comfy. She started to get up, and made noises of discomfort in the process.  
"Legs?" He asked, suddenly finding himself looking up the incredibly long legs of his Major from very up close. Jesus.  
"Yeah. God they ache today. And I've totally stiffened up."  
"Maybe I'll give them a rub for you later if you're lucky," he said and found his hand absentmindedly touching her ankle.  
She laughed in an unsure way that made him panic and realise exactly what he'd just said. Then she left and he palmed his face and swore to himself. What the hell had been thinking? Stupid question. He'd been thinking about breasts and long legs and not much else.  
"Chicken noodle or chilli?" She called from the other side of the fireplace.  
"Noodle," he called.  
He lay on Carter's bed thinking about how much of an idiot he was and kind of enjoying how it smelt here when he realised something.  
"Oh hell no." He jumped up. "You're just cooking so you don't have to wash up!" He dashed around and pulled the meal packet from her hands.  
"I wouldn't do such a thing," she said with far too much innocence. "You said you were hungry and didn't move so I figured I'd cook." She yanked the packet back. "I was being thoughtful."  
"You were being sneaky. Admit it. And it's my turn to cook anyway," he said putting a hand on the packet but not taking it from her.  
"Fine, you cook," she said, attempting to sound casual, "but I'm not admitting ulterior motives."  
She let him take the packet.  
"I know you too well Carter."  
She just smiled and left him to it.

He cooked chicken noodle while Carter did some tidying up. Then they ate in front of the fire.  
"So what are furries?" He pondered out loud. For some reason Carter spluttered noodle everywhere.  
"What?" She squeaked.  
"The furries? The fourth race of super smart asses."  
"Oh my god. The Furlings?"  
"Yeah them. What's wrong with you?"  
"Sir, you do know what a furry is right?"  
"A furling?"  
"No a furry."  
"No." He was so confused right now.  
Carter started giggling.  
"Carter what are you on, and what are we talking about?"  
"A furry is..." She giggled more. "Furries are a weird culture of people who..." She took a breath attempting to regain composure. "... they dress up in anthropomorphised animal costumes and..." She stopped talking.  
"And what?"  
"Well I don't know what they do exactly."  
He gave her a piercing look of disbelief and she wilted.  
"They role-play as animals and there tends to be lots of sex. Allegedly."  
"And you know this because...?" His mind was conjuring wild images of Carter in a cat costume...  
"The Internet."  
"Oh. In animal costumes? Really?"  
"Yeah. Apparently."  
"What's sexy about that?" He asked, still trying not to think about Carter in a cat costume.  
"No clue."  
"People are odd. I gotta tell Teal'c about this."  
She laughed.  
"So Furlings? Not furries," he asked.  
"What are Furlings?"  
"Yeah."  
"I dunno. You'd think we'd have found some evidence of them in our travels."  
"Do you think they're furry?"  
"Why?"  
"Coz their name?"  
"Oh. I don't know, but I doubt they have the same word association."  
"Oh. Shame."  
"They're probably even more elusive than the Nox. I mean, if you're that technologically advanced, maybe you don't want to be bugged by visitors."  
"Or pesky snake heads."  
"Yeah."  
"They really have sex in animal costumes?"  
She laughed. "Apparently there's porn for it too."  
"Animal porn?" He pulled a face.  
"God no. It's anthropomorphised animals, so drawings of animals with human characteristics."  
"You know way too much about this Carter."  
"Have you ever _been_ on the internet sir?"  
"Yes. Once. It was odd."  
"I have to agree with you there."  
"Hmm."  
He took his last bite of noodle and placed his bowl down in front of Carter with a smug grin. She pulled a face at him. 

He went to read and lie on Carter's bed just coz it was comfier. She went outside. She was a while but came back huffing and stomping her feet.  
"Still snowing?" He asked.  
"Yeah. Sorry."  
She appeared, sitting beside him.  
"You're on my bed," she said, giving his side a shove with her foot.  
"It's more comfy than mine. Want it back?"  
"Actually you keep it for a bit. I'm gonna sit closer to the fire."  
She pulled a cushion a little closer to the fireplace and sat on it holding her fingers out to the heat.  
"Get cold?" He asked.  
"Just the fingers."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jack got a word wrong and it all got silly. Sorry not sorry. Got Futurama and Doctor Who sneaking in there somehow too.
> 
> Hope everyone is ok with the lack of rating. I didn't want to rate it because I didn't know where it was going and now I don't want to spoil it as it goes along. Things do seem to be heating up though.


	5. Chapter 5

She was having a nice day. It was weird really. She thought it'd be tense and difficult after last night. And just generally she assumed being stuck together would involve him being considerably more grumpy and uncommunicative. Or at least more childish and annoying. But this was nice. Relaxing. The lack of bathroom sucked. But apart from that it was a wonderful place to be stuck and a wonderful person to be... nope, she wasn't going there. 

She watched the flames lick at a large piece of glowing wood and marvelled silently over the ridiculous and slightly embarrassing conversation they'd just had. Then her mind wandered back to that joke about giving her legs a rub. If only. Even completely platonically, a leg rub right now would be incredible. She stretched her legs out and rubbed her calf muscles ineffectually. She glanced over at Jack and caught him glancing at her before pretending it hadn't happened and carrying on with his book. She had to think of something to do. She wanted to let him read his book for a while. So, as boring as it was, she grabbed her notebook and got a head start writing her mission report. 

~

Carter was leaning back against the side of the fireplace with her legs outstretched towards him. She was writing in her notebook and he imagined complicated science and math he wouldn't be able to understand even if she tried to explain it. His book was good but her feet close to his shoulder were kinda distracting. He read for a good long while and she wrote and wrote until he'd had enough and needed a break. He put his book down and looked at her feet. They were pretty feet. He had the strongest urge to reach out and touch them. Massage them perhaps. It was such a strong urge and he'd been so close to doing it that it scared him a little. He then felt the urge to jump up, escape, distract himself with something. But he stopped himself from doing that too. He didn't know what he'd do other than go pee, and he wasn't going out there unless he really had to.  
"Want your bed back?" He said, deciding words might help. "You don't look very comfy."  
"Oh." She put her notebook down, pulled her legs up and looked at him. "I'm fine. Are you bored?"  
"I guess."  
"How's the book?"  
"Oh it's great, I just, I can't read for too long. My brain goes mushy."  
"Mushy?"  
"I'm sure you can't possibly imagine Carter."  
"Oh you'd be surprised," she smiled, stretching her legs out again with a wince and a little groan.  
"Want that rub?"  
It just popped out, unfiltered, straight from the part of his mind that thought stuff like that, to his tongue. Take it back! Take it back! But he couldn't now.  
"Do you mean it? Coz..."  
She looked just as surprised as he expected her to look. And he had a way out. He could say no, he didn't mean it, he'd gone insane, hell no! But that 'coz'...  
"Might help. And if we have to hike tomorrow..." Oh who was he trying to kid? His fingers itched to touch her and his eyes slid over the objects of his inner conflict while he mentally slapped himself. His only hope now was her coming up with some excuse why it was a terrible, horrible idea.  
"God. You have no idea how much I need a rub."  
He almost groaned. Jesus.  
"Are you sure?" She frowned a little, as if sensing his discomfort.  
Really, really not sure Carter. So not sure. "Come on. Lie down."  
He got up, and pointed at her bed, wondering when the exact moment was that he lost his marbles. She gave him this strange look as she got up and passed him to lie down. It was mostly amused confusion but there was this hint of something that looked like he felt. Terrified insanity. She made an 'oof' noise of pain as she lay face down in front of him that made him think this might not be one hundred percent terrible idea.  
"Don't have any massage oil or anything."  
Oh god, what was wrong with him? Now he had wildly inappropriate thoughts in his head.  
"S'ok," she murmured.  
He grabbed a cushion and knelt down by her legs. Being this close to a view like that was... let's just say difficult. He took a deep breath. He'd just ignore anything above the thigh even existed. It had been a long time since he'd done this, but he was pretty sure he could remember the basics. It wasn't going to be so bad. He would just follow the routine and everything would be fine. He reached out and placed his palm on the back of her thigh. Oh dear god. It didn't bode well that even that made his head swim a little. He refocused and regrouped and started brushing his hands down her legs over her skin, each one in turn. She lay silently, which made this whole thing easier. He put his hand around her slim calf and started massaging. She made this noise as if a groan had got caught in her throat when she'd refused to let it escape. It was incredible and went straight to his groin. He was in so much trouble. And her skin was so soft and her legs were so shapely and long and perfect. He squeezed his hand over her calf muscle until he'd managed to get that groan out of her mouth. Satisfied, he reached over and did the same to the other calf. 

~

She was gripping the cushion tight with her fists and it wasn't because the massage was so nice. Although it was nice. It was due to how instantly aroused she'd become and how horrible she felt because of it. She'd not felt underdressed really, till this moment. It hadn't seemed like that big of a deal to hang around without pants. But now her lightly clothed rear was in his face and she was freaking out about how much her panties covered her ass cheeks and if she had cellulite and how much could he see if she had her legs firmly closed. She squished her eyes closed and tried but failed to relax. The massage was great. He was actually pretty good at it. His huge hands probably helped. She groaned and she wasn't sure if it was the sensation of him stretching her aching calf muscle or the thought of his large hands on her body. 

~

Ok. That was done. Now thighs. He had to assume she would say something or get up if she was done and didn't want him to continue. So it had to be ok to press his hands onto the back of her thigh. He started with some basic squeezes. She groaned. His groin stirred at every single little noise she made, and unfortunately it seemed he was quite good at this. The little throat catchy ones were the worst. He was starting to get all sorts of really bad urges and if he wasn't busy helping her, he would have run away by now. 

~

He was so good at this. It was incredible. Now he was doing a kind of muscle roll thing and it felt like heaven and she couldn't hold back the moans of pleasure even if she wanted to, which she kind of didn't anymore, just because she wanted him to know what felt good and what didn't. Also he kept making these little noises when she'd moan that reminded her of when he was holding back some snarky comment at a briefing with the Tok'ra, but sort of sexier somehow. The little puff of air noise sent pleasure straight between her legs, so she kept moaning to keep him making it. She didn't think he knew he was even doing it. Then there were his fingers. He'd sort of nudged her thighs apart a little when he'd started and well, that had got things all tingly as hell for starters, and now his fingers kept going down between her legs and despite him being nowhere near the top of her thighs it was still hell. Except now he was working upwards, further than he had before, and oh god. It wasn't her fault. The little gasp and the tiny hip lift was completely involuntary. His hands stopped. Oh she'd fucked up for sure. 

~

Oh god. He'd fucked up. He'd been avoiding going too high for obvious reasons but lost his focus and rubbed his fingers an inch or two away from where he really shouldn't be, let alone even be thinking about. Except she'd made this erotic little gasp and her butt had lifted just a little, just enough to notice. And he was so close to snapping. His fingers itched to inch a bit higher. See what noises he could create in her. Get her rear to lift. Maybe spread her thighs a bit further apart. Maybe move the massage up and give that perfectly sculpted rear a squeeze. Fuck. It took real effort to move his hand to her other leg and start over. Commanding officer. Commanding officer. Commanding officer. 

~

She relaxed a little. She might have got away with it. He'd probably noticed, but he'd moved on. Maybe they should have been talking. Maybe that would have helped keep things casual. But it was too late for that now. She just lay and made the occasional moan of pleasure, just enough so he knew she was still enjoying it. He finished and gave her legs a brush down. She turned over straight away, thinking the sooner her butt was out of his face the better. But she didn't really think it through. For one, a hand was still on her legs and slid over her thighs as she turned and then rested on her leg as she settled on her back. The second thing was how putting him face to face with the front of her wasn't better than the back, it was worse. And the third was how now she was looking up at him and could see the way he looked all conflicted and confused. She physically trembled at the thought that he might have been holding himself back from doing... stuff. She couldn't stop herself and he yanked his hand off her as if she'd burned him.  
"Er..." he said, sitting back on his bed.  
"Thanks. That helped," she said. It was lame but what else could she say? Don't stop? God that felt so good? Sorry for getting turned on sir?  
"Oh. Well. Good."  
It was awkward as hell now and she almost wanted to go put pants on just to make things easier for him. 

~

He felt weird like he couldn't breathe. Not touching his Major had always been fairly easy. Well sort of. Not touching her too often, or in any way that was sexual, had always been easy anyway. But now it had been physical effort not to slide his hand upwards. It wouldn't have taken much, that was the problem. Panties were apparently not enough of a barrier for him. Especially with her laid out on her back in front of him. Dear god. Not that he could order her to put pants on. He'd just have to get control of himself. He got up and went for a nice cold pee. It was still snowing, which was unfortunate, as he could have really done with a long, horrid, cold hike right about now. 

When he came back in she was fixing up the fire.  
"Cards?" He asked, trying to regain some kind of normalcy.  
"Sure."  
So they sat on their beds and played cards in the space between them. It was nice not having to talk. They just played. After a few hands some banter begun to slip back in as things got more relaxed. They played all afternoon until dinner time, perhaps both just really needing the distraction. But it was fun. It ended with him flicking his cards at her in a fake tantrum coz she'd wiped the floor with him. 

~

It was her turn to cook and she picked chilli while he read a bit more of his book. Then they ate, and sat a little further apart than normal, she noticed. They chatted about the SGC and gossiped a bit and Jack surprised her by having more juicy gossip than she would have expected. He never usually gossiped. She felt more relaxed now. Well kind of. It was a different kind of tension, mostly in her own head. She was just hyper aware of every single time he smiled, and how his long fingers managed to curl almost all the way around the small bowl, and his hair which had been sticking up on the top of his head all day, and his arms which usually weren't something she noticed but somehow seemed interesting now, and his legs which she swore got longer the more she looked, and the tightness of his boxers and the curve of his rear, and then there were his feet. He was sitting against the side of the fireplace and she was leaning back on her arms with her legs stretched out towards him.  
"Teal'c told me about it," he smiled.  
"Teal'c?" That surprised her.  
"I know. But nobody suspects he cares. That guy knows stuff." He stretched his legs out towards her and his foot tapped hers. It was such a small little thing but it made her guts twist with nerves.  
"Stuff? Like what?" She tapped back and tried to remain casual when the side of his foot stayed touching hers.  
"Like who was responsible for nurse Evans leaving."  
"Oh god. That was because of someone? Why? Who? What happened?"  
"Wait, I know something you don't know?" His foot moved and pressed against the sole of hers playfully. It was just feet. Nothing to get panicked about. But it was making her heart pound.  
"Tell me! Janet wouldn't say."  
He told her the tale about the Captain who was known for sleeping around and the confusion over a one night stand and a broken heart and some laxatives. She was half engrossed in the juicy story and half in playing footsie with her commanding officer. It wasn't a big deal right? Pressing her feet against his and how he was rubbing gently and slowly. His feet were incredibly long. Not just big, but slim and very, very long, made longer by the contrast of her feet against his, and she didn't exactly have tiny feet.  
"Wait, are you just distracting me in the hopes of getting out of washing up?" She smiled and pushed her feet hard against his.  
"The thought never even crossed my mind Carter." But the look on his face told another story. "How about who Daniel said had great legs?"  
"Ok. I don't care about the washing up. Tell me!" She was getting kind of flustered now and trying hard to focus on the juicy gossip and remain casual. But she feared her cheeks might give her away. They certainty felt a bit flushed anyway. How could feet be so erotic? They were rubbing their feet together kind of unashamedly now and it was giving her tummy butterflies and making her breathing fast and shallow.  
"Janet!"  
"No!"  
"I know. He swore it was just an observational remark. You cannot tell her. Daniel would kill me. Or at least he'd try."  
"I won't say a thing. She does have nice legs though."  
He gave her a look and there was something about it that made her realise who she was stroking feet with and what she was feeling and it all came into focus and she suddenly felt panicky. She pulled her feet away and tucked her legs under her.  
"I guess that's my cue," he muttered and got up with a sigh.  
She wasn't sure at all what was going through his mind. 

~

He grabbed the pots and went outside to cool down, not for the first time today, which was a very bad sign. He hadn't meant for that to get weird. He honestly didn't think it was a big deal. But he realised too late that he was enjoying it too much. Way too much. Like how soft and pretty her feet were and how nice it was to touch her and unlike the massage, she was touching him back and it felt good. Really damn good. And he was sort of pretending her feet were her body and then he realised she was getting flustered and he didn't blame her. And now he was out in the dark scrubbing cold chilli remnants from pots with snow and his bare hands. He had just started peeing when the door opened and he was illuminated.  
"Oh sorry. I needed a pee."  
"Keep the door open. That light is handy."  
He finished up and squeezed past her inside.  
"Can I use a flashlight then?"  
"Oh I suppose so." 

She left and he stood wondering what to do and what the safest course of action was. Not the bedroom, he decided. He grabbed his cards and his book and sat in their kitchen area with his legs crossed and his book open in his lap, although he wasn't actually managing to read it. He heard a panicked sounding yelp from outside and instantly reacted. He was up and outside in seconds. Thankfully she hadn't fallen down the mountain like he had feared, but his heart was still pounding as if she had. The light from the doorway illuminated Carter chest deep in snow after going a bit too far away from the hut. He dashed out towards her.  
"Can you get out?" He panted, trying to reach her but suddenly finding it difficult to move with how cold he was.  
"Yes. I'm fine. Get back inside. You'll freeze. Go!"  
He nodded and struggled back into the hut. With shaking hands he pulled on pants and boots and went back out to find her attempting to pull herself out of the drift. She reached for him and he half lay in the snow and grabbed tight hold of her wrists and pulled.  
"Thanks."  
He kept hold of her jacket as they went back inside and as the door shut, and before she could start taking her wet clothes off he pulled her into a tight hug.  
"Sorry," she whispered against his shoulder.  
"What happened?" He realised he was shivering quite a bit.  
"I thought I'd go a bit further. I had my flashlight. Guess I got cocky."  
"Getting down the mountain is going to be fun."  
"On the up side. It's stopped snowing."  
"Tomorrow," he said, holding her a little too tight due to being a bit cold.  
"You're shivering sir. You're cold and wet." She pulled away from him and fetched a blanket while he stood feeling a bit numb.  
"Take your wet stuff off sir," she said as if he was a child.  
He shivered and bent over to undo his laces which had become a little difficult for some reason. He kicked his boots off and started on his pants. He was obviously working too slowly and shivering too much because he felt her cold fingers pull up the hem of his wet t-shirt and her hands brush his ribs as she pulled the t-shirt up and over his head. She wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and he held it together at chest level while she undid his pants and pulled them down so he could step out of them. The whole thing was making his brain hurt and his pulse race. She pulled him over to the fire and sat him down, then stoked the fire up. He watched as she undressed down to panties and t-shirt and brought over a dry t-shirt and some clean dry socks for him. He had recovered enough to be able to put them on himself and wrapped himself back up.  
"Want some hot chocolate?" She asked.  
"Yeah ok." He was feeling much warmer on the outside but had that feeling like his insides had got cold, and some hot liquid in his stomach might help. She got busy making them both some hot chocolate and lit some candles to add some light to the place, now it had got dark. It made it feel warmer too.  
"I am sorry sir," she said handing him a bowl of hot chocolate.  
"I'm fine. Don't worry about it."  
"How are your feet? You were barefoot in snow there for a bit."  
"Dunno. They feel kinda numb and tingly."  
"Do you mind if I...?" She touched his foot. He shrugged. She gave his foot a tug so he stretched it out and she put it in her lap and started rubbing his foot vigorously. He wasn't going to pretend it didn't feel good. He couldn't be bothered. It kinda stung when she pressed hard, but it was probably for the best.  
"Better?" She asked after a while.  
"Yeah."  
She let go of his foot so he pulled it back and didn't hesitate in passing her his other foot. She massaged and he sipped his hot chocolate. It was tense. Quiet. She was focused on his foot and probably feeling guilty and he was still recovering from thinking she'd fallen off the mountain and the numb slow feeling he had from getting cold.  
"Thanks," he said when she was done and his feet felt more full of blood and a bit warmer. Then they sipped their hot chocolates.  
"So tomorrow?" She asked.  
"Hopefully."  
"We're going to have a problem with drifts."  
"I have a little rope in my pack we can tie each other together. And just not walk too close together."  
"Ok yeah."  
"I want to make a sled. I know it sounds silly."  
"I guess it could save us some time but..."  
"As long as we don't slide right off a cliff or something?"  
"Yeah."  
"Worth a try though."  
"Yeah I guess. I'm trying to think of a reason to tell you no but I can't," she smiled sweetly at him. She was probably humouring him. 

~

She felt like crap and she knew he knew. He'd finished his drink and she was still sipping hers. He sat watching the fire and clutching his blanket around him. He hadn't got too cold but she'd been worried for a second about how dazed he'd seemed, and she'd just undressed him without even thinking about it, and now they sat in silence that she wasn't sure was comfortable or not. She couldn't apologise again. She'd already apologised twice. And she couldn't rub his feet anymore than she already had. She couldn't cuddle him like she badly wanted to. She finished her drink and watched him watching the fire. She wondered if he was planning out tomorrow, getting back into Colonel mode. Or was he tired and just watching the flames lick the wood? She got another log to build the fire up a bit and he watched her. His eyes stayed on her as she sat down in front of him, close enough to touch knees. Once again she was left wondering what he was thinking.  
"Feeling ok?" She put a hand on his knee.  
"I'm fine. I didn't get that cold. Stop beating yourself up."  
"Sorry."  
"And stop saying sorry."  
"Sorry."  
They smiled at each other.  
"I thought you'd fallen off the mountain," he said.  
She sighed.  
He turned back to the fire and she gathered the cups up.  
"Don't you dare go back out there," he said.  
"I need to wash these."  
"I'll do it."  
"You will not."  
"It's my turn."  
She ignored him and pulled on a jacket and opened the door. She knelt in the doorway and used the freshest snow she could get from a small drift against the side of the hut. She knew she was giving him a good view of her rear and she somehow knew he'd be checking her out but she didn't care. Something about this past two days had completely worn her down. She was a mess of tension and restrained longing that bubbled just beneath the surface. 

When she was done she closed the door and turned to find him watching and not even looking remotely guilty. Although perhaps he was just watching out of concern. She ached to go to him and just curl up inside the blanket he still held around himself. She felt it like the irresistible pull of a black hole. She put the things back on the shelf and came up behind him and wondered what the hell to say or do. She had to touch him in some small innocent way so she touched her hand to his head. He leaned back and sighed into her touch, so feeling encouraged she stroked his hair, with her heart pounding hard in her chest. He tilted his head back so it leant against her leg and looked up at her. Her feelings got stuck in her throat and all she could do was stroke his hair and give him a little smile. Then the moment was over and he'd straightened back up and cleared his throat and was looking back at the fire. 

~

Had he broken? Which bit broke him? Or was he just worn down? Coz he was hanging on by a thread now. She'd gone all soft. He couldn't put into words what had changed, but everything had gone subdued and hazy and gentle. Her gaze. Her touch. He badly needed to hold her and it was driving him mad that he didn't even know why. Two days alone in hut on top of a mountain and he lost all resolve? The bird on the shoulder of his uniform that he wasn't currently wearing was keeping him from doing anything stupid, but he knew that dissolved when she touched him. If she wanted to rub his feet, fine. If she wanted to stroke his hair, fine. She could have anything she wanted. He was hers. The realisation shocked him and he stood up. 

He turned and she was there all soft looking with a tender gaze. Why the tender gaze? He ached for the touch of her smooth soft skin. To breathe in her scent from up close.  
"So what now?" She asked.  
"We rest up before our big hike tomorrow."  
"Assuming it doesn't start snowing again."  
"Yeah."  
"Cards sir?"  
"Sure."


	6. Chapter 6

So they sat and played gin rummy and Jack pretended everything was completely normal. After a while of pretending, it did actually start to feel a bit more normal. They argued and laughed and only touched each other in passing. He felt like a god damn teenager, flirting by hitting her, as well as trying to make her laugh like he usually did. It got a little silly. Perhaps it was a way of releasing tension for them both. He hit on a winner when he did a Teal'c impression and she actually snorted, so he ran with it.  
"I believe you are correct Major Carter," he said continuing his best Teal'c voice, and trying to do the face now too. She laughed out loud and he found himself grinning at her.  
"Oh god that's brilliant," she giggled, probably half just from surprise.  
"I'm just sayin'," he pushed imaginary glasses up the bridge of his nose "the references to the place between two rivers and the mention of the city of Ur indicates a connection to the earth culture of Mesopotamia," he said, burbling and gesturing.  
She squeaked, clapped her hands over her mouth, and tipped her head forwards laughing hard.  
"Daniel!" She said between laughs.  
"Colonel what are you doing out of uniform?!" He did his best soft southern accent with a military edge.  
"Oh god!" She giggled uncontrollably, "Can you imagine doing that in front of the General?!"  
"Colonel! Take your pants off and get back on the bed or do you want me to have to sedate you?" He was so showing off now.  
She belly laughed at him unreservedly. "Did Janet really say that to you?"  
"She may have."  
"Do me!"  
"I can't."  
"You can do everyone else, so I know you can do me."  
"Ok fine. But for the record, you forced me." He cleared his throat. "Now if my theory is correct, the subspace field is inverted, rendering the flow of neutrinos unstable. But of course that's just the two dimensional gravitational pull of the sun."  
Before he'd even finished she was bent over so far her head was on his knee and she was laughing so hard he thought she'd stopped breathing. Her laughter was contagious. When she came back up she had tears streaming down her face. She looked at him and started laughing all over again.  
"Nailed it, right?"  
"That's the funniest thing," she squeaked. "I can't believe you even know those words." She wiped tears from her eyes.  
"Maybe I pay more attention than you think Carter?"  
"How did you know all that Daniel stuff?" she asked when she'd calmed down a bit.  
"It wasn't accurate."  
"Sounded good."  
"I wasn't born in the Air Force you know. I did go to school."  
"I'm going to tell him you know that stuff."  
"Don't you dare!"  
She smiled.  
"I can't imagine you going to school, being a kid. Were you cute?"  
"God no. And I was a rascal."  
"You were?"  
"Yeah. I smoked. I got in fights. I frequently ran away from home."  
"You did?"  
"Well not really, but I'd take off a lot."  
"Why?"  
"I don't really know. What were you like?"  
"When I was a kid?"  
"Yeah. I'm imagining cute blonde pigtails."  
She laughed sweetly.  
"I was a good kid I guess. A bit of a smart ass..."  
"No!" He said faking surprise.  
She pulled a face at him. "My idea of rebelling was dating a kid with a motorbike and piercing my belly button."  
"You pierced your belly button? You still have it?"  
"No. But I was thinking of getting it done again."  
"You should."  
She raised an eyebrow at him and he realised he should change the subject.  
"It goes without saying that you cannot tell a soul about the impressions. I'm not willing to become a walking impression dispenser."  
"Oh," she moaned unhappily.  
"Promise me Major," he said seriously.  
"Fine."  
He noticed her smiling to herself as she probably went over his impressions in her mind, and felt stupidly pleased with himself.  
"Another round of cards?" he asked.  
She dealt. 

They played until they were sharing yawns and shifting uncomfortably on the floor.  
"Think I'm gonna turn in Carter," he said after she won yet another hand. He was getting bored of her winning streak too.  
"Ok."  
He got up and stretched and stuck on some clothes and headed out for a pee and a toothbrush.  
"Don't fall in a drift," she called.  
"Shouldn't I be saying that to you?"  
It was still not snowing and he thought he could see a couple of stars. It bode well for tomorrow. Which meant one more night. He just had to get though one more night. 

She was dressed and waiting for him when he entered.  
"Careful Major," he warned, and got a smile in return.  
She left and he got ready for bed and added an extra log to the fire. When she came back in he was in bed already and getting comfy. He'd warmed up significantly now and had stripped down to just boxers and was snuggled under his sleeping bag and a blanket for weight. He had a leg sticking out to regulate his temperature, as he liked to do. Carter undressed, blew out the candles and got into bed. She turned over and looked at him for a second.  
"Good night sir."  
"Sleep well Carter."  
He fell asleep surprisingly quickly. 

He turned over and wrapped the covers tighter around him, then woke hearing a noise. It was pitch black which meant the fire had gone out. And it was freezing cold. The temperature had likely dropped due to the lack of cloud cover, which was a good thing. There was that noise again. He stretched out a hand to where Carter was and found only bedding.  
"Carter?" He whispered into the darkness.  
"Shit."  
He sat up.  
"What are you doing?"  
"Go back to sleep."  
"Carter?" He got up and felt his way around the fireplace towards her voice.  
"Where the hell are you?"  
He seriously couldn't find her. It was utterly dark.  
"I was going to light the fire. It got cold."  
"I noticed." He had pinpointed her now and padded towards her, shivering a little at the nipping air.  
"Oh!" She gasped in surprise as his hand touched her arm.  
"Hey are you shivering?" He could swear that he could hear her teeth chattering. He instinctively slid his arms around her.  
"Yes. You're shivering too. That's why I was going to light the fire. The wood is around here somewhere."  
He wasn't listening. He was focused entirely on the distinct lack of material under his touch. He double checked, stroking a hand down her back. Yup. That was bare skin all the way. He gulped hard.  
"Sir?"  
He realised he could feel what was unmistakably her breasts pressing against his chest and his brain went into panic mode and started throwing out hundreds of different things he could say or do. None of which were sane.  
"Um." Well he had to say something.  
"I got hot in bed."  
"Right."  
"Of course now it's..."  
"Really cold."  
"Yeah."  
"So fire?" His brain had gone into caveman mode. Capable of thinking only in the most basic terms.  
"Yeah." Thankfully she pulled away. It was a miracle coz there was no way he was able to. Her skin had been so soft and silky smooth and her back so lithe and sensual. Not to mention... oh hell.  
"Can you help me find the wood," she asked.  
"Sure."  
He found it seconds later with his toe.  
"Ow. Found it."  
He picked up two logs and some kindling and balanced it all together which was tough in the dark. Now he just had to find the fire.  
"Ah!" He heard, and there was light. Carter was by her pack, standing shining her flashlight towards the fireplace. He wasn't sure if she assumed she'd be in darkness but she was very wrong. Ok, not completely wrong. But enough wrong that all he was doing was standing there dumbly gawping at the perfectly curved shapes ever so subtly delineated by flashlight glow. She noticed and glanced down and then probably blushed but he couldn't tell. She turned a little but kept the light on the fireplace. He couldn't think of anything to say so he went over and made fire. She stood behind him giving him light to work with. When the fire caught the wood he looked up at her for a moment and got another beautiful, groin igniting glance of her breasts with firelight dancing over them. She took his breath away. She might have blushed again, he still couldn't tell. Her expression was unreadable but her eyes sparkled. She cleared her throat and hurried around to her bed. With the fire burning brightly now, he followed her and got into his own bed. The air was still cool but it would soon warm up.  
"Get some sleep Carter. We have a big walk tomorrow," he said, feeling tense and restless and knowing he'd likely not sleep now.  
"Night sir."  
Sir.  
Damn. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little short, sorry. Next chapter will be longer, and probably the last.


	7. Chapter 7

She woke feeling much warmer. She looked over to see the Colonel fast asleep on his belly with the covers flung off. She loved his face when he slept, it had a peace to it that waking never had. She sighed and got up. She went for a pee and to check the weather. The sight was so incredible she gasped out loud. The sky was blue. The landscape was ragged white peaks with the occasional dark cliff or rocky outcrop. The white shapes were highlighted by a warm yellow sunrise, casting long shadows down valleys. She could see forever. It was magnificent. It was bitterly cold and utterly perfect. She only went back inside because she was cold and hungry. She got dressed and felt a pang of regret she didn't fully understand. She packed up her bag as quietly as possible and had it ready by the door along with her boots, jacket and weapon. Then she started making breakfast. It was only when the smell of porridge had invaded the hut that he grunted and stirred. Something fluttered deep in her belly and she wondered why on earth this particular moment should make her feel that. He groaned and got up and stretched and padded around into the kitchen.  
"Breakfast?" she asked.  
"Wow. You're organised. As ever, I suppose."  
"Yes sir. It's a beautiful day out."  
She smiled at him and his face grew satisfied. He dressed more thoroughly and carefully than normal and went out.  
"We're going home Carter!" He came back in with a grin.  
"Yup."  
They had breakfast and she packed his bag for him while he made a sled from breaking the lid off the bedding chest and fixing a blanket underneath it so the front had a curve that would skip over the snow and hopefully steer it somewhat. Apparently. She washed the pots, tidied up and put out the fire. 

"Right," she said, looking around.  
"We done?" he asked, giving her an examining look.  
"Think so."  
She looked him over and found it odd to see him fully dressed, and looking unsettlingly Colonel like. She wondered if he was feeling the same thing. Last night seemed like a dream now, the way he'd looked at her. It had made her feel desired and terrified and kind of electrified all at the same time. Right now, it was more like slightly troubled.  
"Gonna miss this place," he said far too casually for her current mood, and picked up his gear.  
They put their boots on and stood at the door.  
"Weird," she said, not knowing exactly what it was she was feeling. Maybe it was having fond memories of a place she'd never see again. Maybe it was the feeling like she was leaving something special behind here. 

They left, closing the door carefully behind them. They tied each other together with rope around their waists and a few metres distance between them. He hefted the makeshift sled under his arm and led them carefully away from their hut. 

The snow was deep and every step went at least halfway up her calf, sometimes to her knee. She followed in his footsteps where she could, but it didn't help much. The snow was crispy and icy and sparkly. Very pretty, but bitterly cold. They headed down the little valley and back to their original route, where they then had a big trek up. It was hard going but fresh legs certainly helped. Jack stepped up to his waist in a couple of drifts but nothing dangerous. At the top he stopped and she caught up with him, standing beside him to catch her breath and admire the view. She was already cold, wet, and tired but the sight was encouraging. It was going to be a long way, but mostly downhill. They could even see a glimpse of the forest that contained the Stargate. 

Jack put down the sled.  
"We can't possibly sled all the way down there," she said.  
"Why not?"  
"Because..."  
He gave her a wry half smile and got settled on the back of the sled and patted the wood in front of him between his legs. It wasn't something she'd even considered, that sharing the sled would require a certain amount of intimacy. It was certainly preferable to trying to walk and the inevitable slipping and falling that would occur, not to mention how tough descending was on the knees. But she had kind of got it into her head that leaving their shelter would also mean leaving all that weirdness, and now she wasn't sure she could trust herself as much as she thought she could.  
She pulled a face at him so he wouldn't suspect the things she was thinking and feeling, and carefully climbed between his legs. Even with her pack and his weapon between them it was kind of snug. His arms and legs surrounded her and he held the corners of the blanket like a steering mechanism.  
"Ready?" he asked, his voice rather close to her ear.  
He inched forward to the lip of the slope. There was a flat area at the foot of this slope, followed by a little rise, so it wasn't like they were going to crash into anything or fall off a cliff.  
"Go," she said.  
He pushed them off. She couldn't help grinning as they raced down the snowy slope and she found herself having to grip his legs for more stability. They reached such a speed they made it most of the way across the flat. She suspected it had been a small lake, frozen over now. She jumped up when they eventually stopped.  
"That was awesome!" she grinned.  
"So I had a good idea?"  
"You did."  
"Cool. Let's go find another hill to sled down."

~

Jack was so conflicted over whether the sled thing was the best idea ever or just asking for trouble. Carter was in professional mode this morning, and he'd followed her lead. Getting into his uniform and leaving that hut had helped. But he couldn't pretend nothing had changed. Not that he could determine exactly what _had_ changed. It was just little things like her cold, red nose looking adorable rather than just slightly amusing, or the cloudless sky and white snow somehow making her eyes look impossibly blue, or the strange look on her face just before climbing onto the sled, not to mention his absurd physical reaction to her hands holding tight to his legs that she'd thankfully not appeared to have noticed. 

He pushed them onwards and tried not to dwell on it. It was a bit of a hike to the next descent, and his legs were already starting to get tired from trudging through deep snow. The next descent was longer and more shallow with some interesting lumps and bumps along the way. She got onto the sled rather eagerly, and straightaway had put her hands on his thighs. He took a deep breath. He told himself he'd likely have this problem whether he'd spent a few days getting far too intimate with her in a hut on a mountain top, or not.  
"Ready?" He asked, not being able to resist leaning in a bit too close to her ear, and then regretting it when her neck started enticing him.  
"Ready."

This time she laughed, which made him smile. They even got air once or twice. At the bottom he had to tip them over to stop the sled hurtling down into a small but rather steep valley that snuck up on them. She laughed again as they tumbled into snow together. He purposefully didn't linger and helped her up straight away, then they set off on one of the few climbs they had. It wasn't steep but it went on for a bit. They took a break for a bit at the top, stretching limbs and munching through a powerbar each. He didn't have the appetite for anything else. 

Unfortunately there was now an unavoidable descent that was far too steep to sled. It was incredibly difficult to get down, with a lot of slipping and falling, and was hell on his knee. Not only was the snow icy, but the ground underneath was loose scree. The small ascent following was actually quite a relief. 

~

Sam stood at the top of what was going to be the last big descent and took a moment to catch her breath and study the view. A carpet of dark forest topped with white, spread out before her. Only a couple of klicks walk in, was the Stargate. They were so close. The only thing between them and home was this huge hill. It looked perfect for sledding, apart from just how big, (and in places, steep) it was.  
"Are we doing this?" he asked.  
"It's quite big isn't it?"  
"I guess."  
"There are trees at the bottom."  
"I know."  
"We'll be going at some speed."  
"I know."  
"Don't hit a tree."  
"I won't," he laughed.  
"Ok then. Let's do it!"  
He adjusted the sled and got on and she climbed between his legs once more.  
"Wait," she said, before he had chance to push off.  
"What?"  
She didn't actually have anything to say, she just realised this was going to be the last of the strange intimacy they'd developed on this planet, and she wanted to extend the moment just a tiny bit. She placed her hands on his thighs and leaned back into him just a little. One of his hands, still holding the corner of the blanket, pressed against her belly and made her shiver. Part of her hoped he'd know it wasn't the cold.  
"Nearly home Carter," he said softly.  
"Yeah."  
Only a few more seconds to enjoy him surrounding her with his limbs and warmth and scent.  
"Ready?" he asked, and she wasn't sure, but she swore she felt him briefly press lips on her neck.  
"Go."

It was too scary for laughing. The steep drop at the very start propelled them to a high speed immediately. She probably gripped Jack's legs too tight. She was focused utterly on keeping the sled upright. About halfway down she frowned, thinking she could hear a strange rumbling. She checked over her shoulder and saw a frightening amount of snow hurrying down the hill behind them.  
"Sir, avalanche!"  
He looked, and in a flash was leaning right back and pulling her back to lie over him, holding her tight. She was too busy holding on and attempting to be as aerodynamic as possible to be terrified. The rumbling got impossibly loud in her ears and she tensed herself for the inevitable impact.

Suddenly there were trees and Jack was steering wildly. Then a jolt as they hit a fallen tree or branch or something and went flying through the air. They landed tangled together and before she could think, Jack was covering her body with his. She held him tight and the avalanche hit. 

Large lumps of snow fell all around with soft crunching thuds. The trees had taken the brunt of the hit. Jack's head was pressed against hers. She breathed out hard. Her heart was pounding so loud in her ears.  
"Jack?"  
He turned his face just as she did and she discovered her nose touching his.  
"We're alive?" he breathed, covering her mouth with warm air.  
She ran through the emotions, relief, happiness, excitement, and so much pent up desire that all she could get her mind to focus on was his body heavy on hers and how she was holding him tightly and the way his smell invaded her mind. They were so close, that it was purely instinctual and far too easy to touch her lips to his, as if it was nothing at all. She pulled her lips away only a millimetre and waited. For a second he stayed stock still and her brain caught up. She couldn't believe what she'd just done. She worried that she'd fucked up badly. Then his lips moved tentatively on hers, just for a brief moment. It felt electric. They breathed, still panting hard with adrenalin, warm breath mingling and sending shock waves of pleasure down her body to the tips of her fingers and toes. 

There was a pause in time, like a hiccup in the universe, like the landscape around them held its breath. Utter silence. 

And then his hands came up and grabbed her head and he kissed her so furiously that her mind briefly ceased operations. Then need overwrote everything else and she pushed her tongue into his mouth and pushed her lower body up against his while holding him against her. He groaned into her mouth, sliding his tongue over hers, kissing and touching her possessively. Every little thing he did made her demand more. She groped him greedily, forgetting all of the reasons why she shouldn't. She kissed him hungrily, and wriggled her body against his unashamedly, physically aching for him. His kisses moved across her face and she gasped as his tongue found her ear.  
"Oh god," she muttered in disbelief and desire, moving her legs so she could wrap more of herself around him.  
He played with her ear and neck till she whimpered and rocked her hips against his and held him down against her, immensely satisfied at feeling the evidence of his arousal. It wasn't enough. She needed him. All of him. Now. So much that she couldn't breathe. She started removing weapons and bags and he was obviously thinking the same thing. It was way too cold to bother with undressing any more than the bare minimum, so they kissed messily as gloves were pulled off to focus on belts, buttons and zips of pants. His cold fingers slid into her panties and she moaned wildly and arched her body.  
"God. Jack. Oh god."  
"What the fuck are we doing Carter?"  
He pushed fingers up inside her and she gasped and then growled gutturally.  
"Don't know but don't stop."  
"Don't worry, not going to."  
He kissed her.  
"Sir," she whimpered at his touch, digging nails into his shoulders.  
"Come."  
"Oh god."  
"Come Carter."  
What he was doing was working like nothing else so she had no recourse but to obey. She cried out as it overwhelmed her, and made herself look up at him watching her as she writhed and tried to hold him tighter than it was possible to do.  
"Fuck Carter. Oh hell."  
"Need you," she moaned, finding his pants again and diving inside.  
"Oh shit," he said, groaning as she found his length, so solid and silky and everything she needed.  
"Need you."  
It hurt. Her demand for him physically hurt.  
"Sleeping bag?"  
"Screw the sleeping bag."  
"I want you so much," he murmured, and rolled over, pulling her on top of him. She took no time in releasing his impressive erection from his boxers. He yanked her pants down urgently along with her underwear, then she was pushing them as far down her legs as possible so she could straddle him. He touched between her legs and slid his hand up inside her clothes to search out her breasts. She whimpered madly under his touch and stroked his length hungrily.  
"Carter. Now."  
"God. Sir."  
She didn't waste a second in positioning herself and sliding down on him. Screw savouring the moment. She had to have him inside her filling her, and oh god did he fill her.  
"Oh Jesus," he groaned loudly, and his head slammed back into the snowy, leaf covered ground as he held onto her waist for dear life. She moved her body over him, gasping at the sensation of having him deep inside her. Him. Jack. 

She rode him urgently, knees numb in the snow, under trees that were still dropping smatterings of avalanche from overburdened branches. Puffs of fast warm breath rose from them into the bitterly cold air. Her sounds of pleasure once uttered, disappeared, deadened by trees and snow. Moving together while kissing was incredible. How he touched her breasts and nipples, was incredible. Making him moan into her mouth. The way his hips lifted off the ground to push himself deeper. The way he gasped her name, either of them. It was all incredible and made her feel elemental and intoxicated. 

How he was breathing and the look on his face told her he was close.  
"Sir."  
"Carter," he said with gruff voice.  
"Jack. Please."  
"Sam. I'm..."  
He came, and the sensation of it brought her with him. Inexplicably she was still climaxing when he'd stilled and calmed. Maybe background arousal for days did that. His fingers found her and suddenly it was morphing into another one. Or growing. She had no fucking clue. But she screamed and everything went white and hot and she thumped his chest and...  
"Oh god," she panted, then collapsed on him, spasming a little from powerful aftershocks. He kissed the side of her face and brushed hair from her cheek. 

"Shit," he muttered.  
"Affirmative," she whimpered.  
They took a moment. Panting hard. Feeling the blood pounding in her ears. Feeling the ache in her limbs. Feeling the cold biting on her exposed skin. Feeling the burning cold ice on her knees. Feeling the air steeling warmth from the small patch of tear stained skin on her cheek. Feeling him inside her. Feeling his hands stroking her so tenderly it almost made her want to cry. 

She had so much she wanted to say. But it wasn't going to happen. She couldn't. Her brain wasn't working properly. She couldn't find the right way of saying it anyway.  
"Carter?"  
"Hmm?" She lifted her heavy head and gazed down at him.  
He pulled her into another kiss. A kiss after the heat had gone. After the cold had seeped back in. After the regret and reality had started poking its way between them. He kissed her. That felt more real than anything else. 

Then she clambered off him and pulled up clothing and adjusted things while he did the same. They stood in the snow opposite each other.  
"Wow," he said, "Or oops?"  
"Hmm."  
"You ok?"  
"Yeah."  
He put a hand on her shoulder, briefly lifted it to touch her cheek, then placed it back on her shoulder.  
"Let's go home Carter."  
She nodded mutely, feeling a little shocked and afraid to question too much.  
"My place has a bathroom," he said. "It'll be luxury."

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you just can't control the characters. This is the last thing I expected when I started writing. Oh well. 
> 
> Thanks for the kudos. I treasure new shippy fics so much, I started posting mine, such as they are, in case someone out there felt like me. So to get kudos is a big encouragement and I'll try and write betterer ;)
> 
> This work is dedicated to anyone who's been caught out by bad weather on a hike and wished for a refuge like this.


End file.
